He held his hand out. She took it. He didn’t squeeze, didn’t shake it up and down. Just held her there, his hand engulfing her much smaller one.
He liked touching her. Liked the zip of attraction that hummed through his veins. The current of possessiveness. He took a deep breath. Studied her hazel gaze.
“Yes,” he said solemnly. “I’ll marry you.”
Chapter Four
Relief flooded her. Kayla closed her eyes and bowed her head as the weight of dread lifted from her shoulders. Zach was going to marry her. It was a huge thing, and she knew she could never thank him enough. With him on her side, whoever’d threatened her wasn’t going to win. He would make sure of it.
“Thank you, Zach. Thank you so much.”
His expression was fierce. “I’ve got your back, Kayla. It’s not what I expected would happen when I opened the door, but you can count on me. I won’t let anyone take Ana away from you, and I won’t let them hurt you either.”
He made her tingle inside, and he hadn’t done a thing but vow to protect her. “I know,” she said, her heart hammering. He was so damned gorgeous. Her body was already starting to melt, to prepare for something more. Her pussy grew hot and achy with anticipation. Remembering his touch. Craving it.
She told herself to slow down before she turned this into something it wasn’t. They were only going to pretend to be in love. That didn’t mean they were. Or ever would be. She’d never been lucky in love. She was good at attracting men, especially the wrong kind of men, but she wasn’t good at being the kind of person they loved.
James hadn’t loved her, though she’d thought he did for a while. He’d been different from the guys who normally hit on her. He hadn’t been filled with himself, talking for the good of his own ego. He’d been interested in her. Who she was, what drove her. She knew now that it had all been an elaborate game that men like him played. His job had been finding vulnerable young women to lure into sex trafficking, and the surest way to do that was make them feel heard and valued.
Zach was still sitting close, still studying her. His scrutiny made her self-conscious.
“I don’t know what’s going on in that pretty mind of yours,” Zach said softly. “I’ve seen six different emotions cross your face in the span of moments. You’re scared. I get that. But is it of the guy who threatened you? Or are you scared of me?”
“I’m not scared of you,” she blurted, embarrassed that he’d seen so much of her chaotic thoughts. “I’m grateful.”
“I would never force you to do anything you don’t want to do, Kayla. I hope you know that. We’ll get married to protect you and Ana, and we’ll take the rest a day at a time.”
“I know you wouldn’t.”
This man had never been anything but wonderful to her. Even on the single night they’d shared, he’d been concerned with her enjoyment, her pleasure. Yes, it had been wild and dirty and fun, but she’d never had a moment of fear or doubt. He’d pushed her to her limits and she’d loved every exciting moment of it. Then she’d run out of his house like there’d been a serial killer with an axe behind her the next morning.
She thought he might ask her about that night, but he didn’t. She was relieved because she didn’t know what to say in response. How did you tell the man who’d had his tongue all over your body and his cock and fingers deep inside you that you’d run away because you were afraid you’d taken things too far? Or, worse, that you suspected he’d fucked you out of pity?
“How soon do you want to get married?” he asked, all business.
Kayla worked to pull her emotions back from the brink. She had to. She’d gotten what she came for and now they had to make a plan. “As soon as we can? I don’t need a ceremony with friends and family. I don’t care about white dresses or any of that. It’d be ridiculous anyway since I have a baby.”
He frowned. “Anybody who thinks you can’t wear white is an asshole. It’s not about purity anymore. It’s tradition. If you want a white dress, I’ll kick anyone’s ass who says you shouldn’t wear one.”
A warm feeling spread through her. “It’s okay. I really don’t. But thank you.”
He picked up his phone and typed something. “Says here you can marry in as quickly as forty-eight hours in Maryland. We have to file for the marriage license first, though. It requires you and me and our identification at the courthouse. We’ll have to wait until Monday. We can marry anytime after Wednesday, but we’ll have to find someone to marry us. If we want to marry at the courthouse, we have to make an appointment after we have the license. That could take another couple of days.”
“I can get the morning off on Monday.”
“Next question. How do you want to do this? Get married at the courthouse or plan something our friends can attend? We only need an ordained minister and a location if we don’t want to marry at the courthouse.”
“I’d rather do the courthouse. I don’t want to take away from Bailey’s wedding by planning my own.”
He studied her. “If you were getting married for the usual reason, what kind of ceremony would you want?”
She didn’t have to think about it. “When I was a little girl, I wanted the white dress with a long train, lots of attendants, and a giant church wedding. Like a princess. But I was a kid with an active imagination back then.” And such a shitty home life that she’d needed things to dream about. She sighed. “Now, quite honestly,
